Oyo APC blames Governor Makinde for PDP’s internal crises

By Adejayan Gbenga –

The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu is behind the internal crises within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Instead, it accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and other PDP figures of causing the turmoil through “naivety, pride, and insincerity.”

In a statement issued on Wednesday by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, the Oyo APC argued that the PDP’s current troubles were self-inflicted. It said the once-dominant party had continued to shrink as governors, lawmakers, and key stakeholders defect to other parties, especially the APC.

Sadare noted that despite ruling Nigeria for 16 years, the PDP failed to meet expectations and had shown a further lack of direction since becoming the main opposition party. He added that the PDP’s inability to reposition itself after its 2015 electoral defeat had left it on the brink of collapse.

According to the statement, access to power and national resources was the glue holding the PDP together before 2015. Once the party lost the presidency, he said, internal unity evaporated and it was unable to manage the conflicts that followed.

The APC said the PDP’s decline could also be linked to “retribution,” recalling how some of its leaders once boasted that the party would rule for at least 50 years. It argued that such “power intoxication” contributed to the party’s disintegration.

Rather than addressing its internal contradictions, the APC alleged, the PDP leadership allowed Governor Makinde to assume greater control. Sadare claimed Makinde lacked the experience to lead a national party and had instead accelerated its troubles, leaving him the only PDP governor in the South.

The statement further argued that President Tinubu and other opposition figures who challenged PDP dominance during the Obasanjo era should not be blamed for the party’s current woes. It maintained that the President was focused on national governance and should not be distracted by opposition politics.

The APC concluded that the PDP’s future under Makinde appears bleak and urged the party’s leaders to take responsibility for their failures rather than blaming external figures.